Tag Archives: Return of the Condor Heroes

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This is less of a Weibo Wednesday update and more of round-up of a bunch of celebrities who announced they were dating (or in one case, married) and whom we couldn’t bother devoting an entire post to. Let me know if there are any celebrities you’d like an update from, because the Weibosphere has been a little dry lately, tbh.

The Chen family may have taken over RoCH, but the Yang family has now added Zhao Liying and Michelle Chen to the growing list of family members like Liu Yifei, Liu Shishi, and Yang Mi

Who knew that Chen Xiao could sing so well? I think I’m starting to be touched by Chen Xiao’s undying love for fanboying Liu Xin, or maybe just his voice. The Chen Xiao-Liu Xin duet, as well as more of the OST from Chen Xiang, Michelle Chen, and Zhang Jie, below. The series premiers Wednesday night on Hunan TV.

Yu Zheng may have been accused of plagiarism, but that’s not stopping him from going full-steam ahead with his other high-profile project, the newest adaptation of wuxia classic Return of the Condor Heroes (神雕侠侣). Starring Chen Xiao as Yang Guo and Michelle Chen as Xiaolongnü, the drama is now officially titled The Romance of the Condor Heroes.

The preview is essentially a mishmash of scenes that will probably make sense only to those who know the storyline (or, seeing as Yu Zheng is the screenwriter, maybe not). Check out the video and some stills below, and get your first look at Yang Rong as Mei Chaofeng.

More than once he’s been called upon to “scat from the entertainment circle,” but Yu Zheng is still going strong: his upcoming dramas include Turnip 蔓蔓青萝, a story concerning the young lady Li Qingluo (“Green Carrot”). The daughter of a concubine, she and her mother are disdained by the rest of her high ranking family, and she rarely puts on make up or competes with her sisters for attention. Yet she is a talented zither player and a skilled cook, and when her mother is sick in bed one day, only she leaves to search for medicine. Disguised as a boy one day, she meets the “Five Princes of Feng City,” thus opening a tangled love story…

Also upcoming is his “sequel” to the Legend of Lü Zhen, Legend of Mingyue. (Looking forward to seeing Chen XIao in uniform? This is a Republican era piece). The drama series is based off of the novel The Last Prince, the love story of the “last prince” of the Qing dynasty. Yu Zheng also has plans to adapt the last series in the Condor Trilogy, Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, to television sometime in the future.

While the leads of The Condor Heroes are getting all sorts of hate, the rest of the cast still get pretty stills. The latest set released are of name-changed Yan Yikuan as Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen Sect, and Dong Xuan as Lin Chaoyin, the founder of the Ancient Tomb Sect of the main character XiaoLongNv. The pair of star-crossed lovers has a rather beautiful love story, which you can read more about here.

Apologies for the lack of normal Weibo Wednesdays in the past… month. If I could spend more time each day scrolling through Weibo for memorable posts, I definitely would, but unfortunately, that’s not what I get paid to do! But we do have a deluge of goodies from the past month, so full speed ahead!

Jing Boran showed his support for real-life couple Feng Shaofeng and Ni Ni‘s first feature film together, Love Will Tear Us Apart (我想和你好好的), calling it a must-watch. Jing Boran and Ni Ni will soon star together in Up in the Wind (等风来), a film about two unlikely friends’ search for happiness, which eventually leads them to Nepal. Up in the Wind opens in theaters on December 29th. Forever LOLing at the person trying to sneak a pic of Ni Ni with their Minion phone in this photo below.

Previously, Li Chen had been slated to play Yang Kang in Yu Zheng’s upcoming Return of the Condor Heroes. He has, as of now, withdrawn from the drama,though Mu Nianci remaiins Zhao Liying. Chen Xiao will be taking on a double role instead- in addition to the protagonist Yang Guo, Chen XIao will also play the father Yang Kang. This guarantees us at least a few scenes where Yang Guo is not dressed like a ragbag, given Yang Kang’s lofty position as an adopted Jin prince. I have the sneaking suspicion that some people will watch the first episode to see him romance Mu Nianci/Zhao Liying, and roll away as soon as Yang Guo’s arc with Michelle CHen’s little Dragon Maiden starts. Look below the cut for more Chen XIao, Vianne Zhang, and Michelle Chen (Plus a little bonus behind the scenes with Chen XIao and Zhao Liying!).

The big news these past two weeks was obviously Faye Wong and Li Yapeng‘s divorce, a topic that continues to trend on Weibo. I don’t have much to say about it, except that I was not expecting it at all. But even a divorce can’t cover up the happiness of marriage, and we were lucky to get not one, but TWO celebrity weddings in the first half of September!

First up are actor He Ziming and Super Girl He Jie, who wowed us with their proposal, their wedding photoshoot, and now their actual wedding ceremony. The two of them tied the knot on September 12th, and their wedding photos are absolutely gorgeous. Check out these twophotosets, courtesy of Nice Wedding, for some ideas for your own wedding! ;)

Today, we happily got married! After we came down, friends asked me if I was tired. To tell the truth, I was so happy that I’d forgotten everything else. The two people who went through the most difficulties these past two months actually wasn’t us, but all of the employees and our friends in the media. On behalf of me and my wife, we thank everyone, as well as the friends who could and couldn’t make it! Thank you all for your blessings, because only with you as your witnesses could our wedding seem especially meaningful! In short, engraved in my memory and heart, thank you.

My feelings on the casting of Michelle Chen as the Little Dragon Maiden are comparatively weak, which is why I am the one posting the latest stills from Yu Zheng’s new version of Return of the Condor Heroes. That, and because I strongly dislike (hate) Yu Zheng. Previously, he had shown us pictures of Michelle Chen in the audition gown for Jin Yong’s ethereal ice beauty and promised that she would look even better in the real costume.

…Well, the real costumes are out now. I suppose you could say that the backgrounds are very heavenly. (Yu Zheng, why can’t you even get little details right? Is it so hard to keep her clothing completely white? Why is there all this pink and blue?) Chen Xiao‘s Yang Guo has also had official stills release, and as usual, Chen Xiao is an attractive young lad. Unfortunately, he looks like he’s wearing several bandanas over polka-dot pajamas. Though one would argue that it is better than this.

Instead of wondering what Yu Zheng was thinking (because maybe he wasn’t), let’s wonder how he can top the craziness of this drama. Stretch that imagination!

Anyone want to guess who this fine fella is? Why, none other than our Fourteenth Prince, Lin Gengxin! It seems he was jealous about being left off this list of beauties, so he decided to show them up. What do you think — can he compare to Ma Tianyu?

I’ll post a photo of that contest I participated in when I was little.